


How to Say (It)

by orphan_account



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-20
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-28 00:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6307345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Do Kyungsoo and Kim Junmyeon are best friends in love, just not with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Meeting in Mandarin

            Do Kyungsoo was a whiz with languages. They had always come easily to him and learning them was _his_ thing.

            Hence his choice of major when enrolling at South Korea Seoul University last year: linguistics. He’d contemplated majoring in one—or four—languages he’d yet to learn, but soon rejected that idea after discovering that (1) a student could at most only _double_ major, and that (2) the language courses offered by SKSU were both meager in scope and embarrassingly lower level in difficulty.

            Also, Junmyeon—who was two years older, but had been held back once and so was _only_ a year ahead— had already spent an entire two terms at the university and dispensed the knowledge that the most complex language taught at SKSU was Farsi, something Kyungsoo had mastered _years_ ago and didn’t really feel like repeating for nearly 8,000,000 Won a year. Not that money had ever been a problem for the Do family, but Kyungsoo had experienced the weight of at least a little filial responsibility when deciding his area of study. His hyung had pointed out that a degree in Linguistics wasn’t much better than Kyungsoo’s original academic plan, but the younger of the Do brothers had always liked understanding the _root_ of things and Junmyeon had later commented to Kyungil that at least Kyungsoo would be trying something _new_ for once.

            It’s not that Kyungil’s younger brother didn’t do things outside of his comfort zone—he had tasted that cauliflower rice from that _one_ restaurant that _one_ time, thank you very much—but he’d definitely never been overly adventurous or aggressive in his pursuit of difference. Which is why his friendship with Kim Junmyeon had initially struck everyone who knew Do Kyungsoo as a little unexpected and somewhat strange.

            Kim Junmyeon had been Kyungsoo’s best friend since the two’s first meeting at an extra-curricular Mandarin class when both were still elementary students. Junmyeon was there because he was the future heir of a popular upscale hotel chain with a successful Chinese branch. Kyungsoo’s family was as wealthy as the Kim’s but the Do boy was there because he had _already_ learned Japanese and his parents just didn’t know what to do with their prodigy of a second son.

            Put simply, Kyungsoo had been bored. And when child Kyungsoo was bored, he moped; he could usually be found lying around the house, muttering in various languages to his Pororo plushy, and being a general nuisance to anyone who tried to talk to him because they didn’t know any better. (That poor maid had no idea that when she’d asked “Young Master” what he wanted for lunch, he’d respond with a “Pororo is hungry too! Why didn’t you ask him?!” In perfectly accented English no less.)

            That incident was neither the first, nor the last.

            So Kyungsoo’s parents, tired of having a constantly harassed staff, told their younger son to pick a hobby and promptly kicked him out of the house. The banishment wasn’t permanent—obviously it lasted no more than the duration of a summer afternoon, and dusk was his playtime curfew _anyway_ —but Kyungsoo had been seven and the memory was still vaguely traumatizing every time he thought about it. No one was surprised when Kyungsoo said he wanted new language classes, and his parents readily agreed, glad to finally have him out of their—or rather, his nanny’s—hair.

            So Kyungsoo started taking Mandarin two days a week after school. But it wasn’t long before he’d started to mope again, because he’d been in the class a _whole one month_ and Mandarin wasn’t even that hard and he was bored again.

            Enter Junmyeon—and Kyungsoo’s salvation. The Kim boy was already nine and when he’d appeared in Kyungsoo’s advanced level class one day, introducing himself in near-flawless Chinese, Kyungsoo was smitten.  (His fluttering childhood crush was fleeting when Kyungsoo realized that the older boy had said his greetings in Mandarin because actually his Korean was _terrible_.) But they say you never forget your first love, which might be why Kyungsoo made the effort to offer to tutor the elder in their native language, is probably why Junmyeon actually took him up on it, and is most definitely why the two were still best friends nearly twelve years later.

            It helped that Kyungsoo thought the rest of his Mandarin classmates were immature _idiots_ with no language abilities; whereas Junmyeon’s Korean was horrible but _he_ at least could converse passably with Kyungsoo in Chinese.

            What everyone found so unexpected and strange about this was _not_ that Kyungsoo and Junmyeon were friends, but that the younger boy had actually been the one to initiate their friendship. Though Kyungsoo had never been that extroverted before, there is indeed a first for everything, and Kyungsoo’s parents were understandably relieved when the nanny reported a decrease in conversations with Pororo and an increase in Junmyeon’s presence around the Do household.

            Kyungsoo’s parents were unable to observe their son’s change themselves because they were never around. Yet the Do sons hadn’t suffered too much at this lack of presence because the two had always been close and their nannies generally looked after them lovingly. When both became too old for nannies, Kyungil, as the heir to the family business—the production of high-end music equipment—had been sent to boarding school. But Kyungsoo’s penchant for languages (and his strong, though completely platonic, attachment to a certain brunette chaebol) allowed the second Do son much more freedom. When he had a new language to learn and Junmyeon to keep him company, Kyungsoo didn’t mope; honestly, that in itself was enough for his parents and they simply left their younger son to his own devices.

            Which is why, the day Kyungsoo turned 13 and Junmyeon appeared with a tiny Siamese kitten as a gift, Kyungsoo’s parents let him keep it. They weren’t at home to say no and by the time they found out about the pet, their son was already so in love with the animal that they couldn’t make him part with it.

            Their absence is also why they didn’t do anything when Kyungsoo—and Junmyeon—had taken Pororo—yes, that’s what Kyungsoo had named the cat—and “run away” one weekend the summer before Kyungsoo started high school. Really they’d just gone camping in Junmyeon’s backyard, but Kyungsoo’s parents hadn’t stopped them because Kyungsoo’s parents hadn’t _known_.

            And again, that’s why the Do parents were surprised when their elder son graduated from high school with a diploma and a _boyfriend_ , and Kyungsoo had said that not only had he known about his brother and Yijeong for _years,_ but also that he thought he maybe liked boys too. Mr. and Mrs. Do were slightly disappointed that they would (probably) never get grandchildren, at least not ones with Kyungil’s tell-tale smirk and easy humor—which originally belonged to Mr. Do—or with Kyungsoo’s genius and his owl-like eyes—about the origins of which both parents were admittedly confused.

            But if Kyungsoo’s parents were good at being constantly gone for business, they were even better at loving their sons, so it didn’t matter to them _who_ their children dated, as long as those people made said children happy.

            Junmyeon definitely made Kyungsoo happy, and for the longest time the Do parents were absolutely sure that the Kim boy would become their younger son’s Jang Yijeong equivalent. Although they made sure to remain mute on _that_ comparison in front of their younger son because Kyungil was always going on about his Jeong-ie being incomparable, to which his boyfriend would respond with a small smile and a bigger blush.

            But as far as the younger Do son’s love life was concerned, aside from a very drunken kiss the night of Junmyeon’s high school graduation—one that both vehemently deny when questioned—Kyungsoo’s friendship with Junmyeon remained exactly that.

            (Besides, even though both were now in university and Junmyeon’s Korean had long since improved, every so often both boys huddled together in SKSU’s library to study up on their native language. Kyungsoo did it for fun, but Junmyeon was still sometimes a little self-conscious, so the two friends occasionally continued the tutoring sessions they’d started long ago. Which is why, Kyungsoo told Junmyeon one September afternoon near the start of the younger’s first university term, they could never have dated—because Kyungsoo was still technically Junmyeon’s tutor and that would be _weird_.)

            As it turned out, these tutoring sessions usually just became the two meeting up to study separate subjects while sitting together. And so, most Tuesdays would find Do Kyungsoo and Kim Junmyeon at a quiet spot in the science wing of the university’s large library. It was decided early on that the two would meet up in the section most helpful for Junmyeon since medical textbooks usually weigh at least _three times_ as much as any book Kyungsoo has to read for linguistics. (Junmyeon was, of course, to be the next CEO of Hotels Kim, but he was also much too smart for a single major and had decided to pursue a dual degree in business and medicine.)

            And aside from the weight of the books, there were simply too many for the older boy to check out from the library and carry around all at once. At least that’s the argument Junmyeon spews when he arrives every Tuesday to a sighing Kyungsoo who immediately complains—without fail—that “Hyuuuuung, the medicine section is _so far away_ from the bathroom”—and civilization. Junmyeon’s response to Kyungsoo’s grievances is a familiar one; they repeat this cycle every week but neither boy minds because best friends need to spend time together yet both boys also have school work to do, so this Tuesdays-in-the-library thing was a sort of compromise in the middle.

            When Kyungsoo started his second year—and Junmyeon his third—the younger’s workload increased enough that their Tuesday nights would have bled into Wednesday mornings if they hadn’t also started meeting up on Thursdays. That’s not to say they sometimes didn’t stay up all night on Tuesday only to do the same thing all over again Thursday night too, because they did. But knowing that there would be more productivity two days later made it a little easier for the two friends to occasionally (read: often) stop their Tuesday studying early and go get food instead. If snacks were on the menu, it was dukbokki for Junmyeon and sundae for Kyungsoo; if either had spoken that day to Mrs. Kim or Mrs. Do respectively, they usually went for something a little less fattening—the two would go to the elder’s dorm where Junmyeon would eat snack on sushi while Kyungsoo simultaneously prepared two servings of his famous kimchi spaghetti and questioningly tsked how Junmyeon had ever survived the first year of university without him.

            Unfortunately—also during Kyungsoo’s second year—the Chemistry Club started holding meetings in the science wing on Thursday afternoons, so the two were forced to venture elsewhere, and it was Junmyeon who’d suggested they relocate to the small café across from their current study location, instead of moving to simply another wing of the library itself. The light squeak in his voice and the incorrect grammatical structure of his sentence as he made this proposition caused Kyungsoo to look up from his copy of _The Etymology of Etymology_ , at which point he’d noted the other boy’s faint blush with interest.

            “Finally,” he whispered to himself as his friend looked at him somewhat nervously.

            You see, Kyungsoo looked at life as if it were a language like any other. And the language Junmyeon was speaking was something he recognized. Do Kyungsoo may have been inexperienced in romance ~~in general~~ , but he could definitely recognize the signs: his best friend had a crush, and he'd had it for _a while_.


	2. Keeping Up With Korean

            Kyungsoo wasn’t a sadist. Well, not usually anyway.

            But that fateful day he let his best friend squirm uncomfortably in his seat for _at least_ a minute before merely raising an eyebrow and leaning toward Junmyeon with a “Hmm?”

            “I know you heard me, Soo,” Junmyeon managed to say as his cheeks turned an even deeper shade of pink.

            The younger boy reached out and pinched his friend’s cheek, exclaiming “Aw, cute! Our Jun-nie has a crush!” before he quickly pulled his hand away in response to a “Yah!” from his friend and a suddenly reemerged sense of self-preservation.

            Junmyeon huffed at his friend in an obvious display of irritation, but didn’t deny that what Kyungsoo said was true. He merely reiterated his earlier point—that they should spend their study time on Thursdays in that café—and accompanied his statement with a pronounced eye-roll that he’d begun perfecting ever since he’d first met Kyungsoo and the younger had quite unabashedly said that Junmyeon should stick to Mandarin if the Kim boy wanted people to think him at least _marginally_ intelligent.

            (Junmyeon used to hate when people rolled their eyes because he thought it was disrespectful and downright rude. The day he met Kyungsoo marked the first time he’d ever performed said action and he was more than a little dismayed when Kyungsoo—and the eye-rolling—became an unbreakable habit. Besides, it wasn’t Junmyeon’s fault that he’d been born in Korea but moved to China before he could speak, and had then been raised by Chinese nannies who conversed with each other in wonderfully complex Mandarin but refused to instruct him in any anything other than strongly-accented Korean that was only comprehendible by the third time _at best._ )

            “So,” Kyungsoo prompted, eyebrow still raised at the blush that had yet to leave Junmyeon’s face, “what’s her name?”

            At this, Junmyeon sighed loudly and then contracted the attention of the library assistant with an even louder follow-up groan. (They’d had run-ins with this particular person before: “She can _barely_ speak Korean, Junmyeon, so ignore her because she’s not worth it. Oh, stop looking so sorry for yourself; at least your Mandarin’s no longer _completely_ atrocious.”) Kyungsoo _graciously_ allowed the power-drunk assistant to shush them with a glare before fixing his gaze back on his friend.

            “I see,” he said knowingly. “Let me rephrase, then. What’s _his_ name, hyung?”

            Junmyeon’s hands, which had been covering his face to hide the outward expression of his internal angst, slowly removed themselves to his lap as the blush returned to his cheeks in full bloom and his eyes widened at Kyungsoo’s words.

            “Alright, yes, this time it’s a boy, okay? Jeez!” Junmyeon managed to express before bring his hands back up to his face. “But how did you even know? All I did was suggest we maybe use the café!”

            “Oh for goodness sake, hyung, give me some credit!” the younger boy said petulantly. “You’re my best friend; I’ve known you for years. And if it’s the boy thing you’re worried about, it would be a little hypocritical of me to judge, don’t you think?”

            The older boy spread his fingers a little so that his best friend was visible despite the self-applied hand mask that Junmyeon was currently _still_ wearing. He nodded imperceptibly at Kyungsoo’s words and remembered a time, not long after Kyungil’s fateful graduation, that Kyungsoo had told him he liked a _boy_ and Junmyeon had promptly burst into tears. Junmyeon had always been the more emotional of the two—there was a reason some people called Do Kyungsoo the “cold devil”—and had barely been able to express—between hiccups—that he was so glad Kyungsoo had shared this because Junmyeon also thought he maybe liked a boy but he wasn’t really sure because he still definitely found girls attractive too and he hadn’t known how to tell his best friend in the whole world but now he wasn’t worr—.

            Before Junmyeon could pass out from not taking time to breathe, Kyungsoo had interrupted his friend’s rambling by hitting him over the head for being a complete _idiot_ and then said that he didn’t care if Junmyeon was sexually attracted to a _chicken_ , as long as the two of them didn’t end up fighting over a boy. Which they _did_ —once—but that situation didn’t end too badly because Park Jeongsu liked _girls_ actually.

            But anyway, “bros before…bros,” or something like that. Regardless, Junmyeon got tht point. (It’s strange, but the conversation between the best friends went very much like that of the Do parents on a very similar subject at a very similar time. Kyungsoo, as it turns out, was more like his parents than their absence in his life would suggest.)

            Oblivious to his friend’s trip down memory lane, Kyungsoo continued. “Anyway, I knew because you were—excuse me, _are_ —blushing even more than the time that pervert dropped his pants in front of you when I was still in middle school and you came to pick me up from my Thai lesson so we could go see that new _Harry Potter_ movie.”

            Kyungsoo hadn’t thought it possible, but at his words, Junmyeon’s blush deepened even further.

            “That was so traumatizing,” the older boy said with a shudder.

            “Yes, well, at least your parents didn’t kick you out of the house when you were seven!” Kyungsoo began, recalling that incident with irritation.

            But before Kyungsoo could launch into the story that Junmyeon had heard at least a thousand times and could probably recite word-for word back to him, the Kim boy interrupted and said, “Oh, shut up, would you? We all know—”

            “What is it we all know?” Junmyeon was interrupted by the voice of the two’s mutual friend, Kim Jongdae.

            “Hi, Jongdae-hyung!” Kyungsoo said excitedly, waving the new arrival into an empty seat across from him. “Jun-hyung has a crush!”

            Jongdae rolled his eyes at the Do boy in annoyance—apparently that reaction to Kyungsoo did not only apply for Junmyeon.

            “I told you to call me Chen,” he said, rolling his eyes a second time. “You _know_ Min-nie says he thinks one word names are sexy.”

            “Well I think it’s dumb,” Kyungsoo replied unapologetically, causing both of his friends to roll their eyes again. “Especially since you two aren’t even really dating.”

            “Yes, well, no one asked you,” a new voice countered.

            “Oh look, Min’s here too,” said Junmyeon, his voice lacking its usual vigor. “Hi, hyung. So glad you could make it. It’s really great that there’s yet another person to witness my utter humiliation at the hands of my so-called _best friend_ ,” he added.

            Kim Minseok had been one of the first people to welcome new student Junmyeon when the latter had arrived on SKSU’s campus, suitcases—and Kyungsoo—in tow. The two best friends had easily gotten along with the eldest boy and both had effortlessly joined Minseok’s small friend group, even though Kyungsoo was still in high school at the time. It was through Minseok that they’d also met Jongdae—or Chen, as he seemed to currently prefer. Much like Junmyeon and Kyungsoo, the two were childhood friends with a two year age gap. What was very much _unlike_ the Kim-Do pair, however, was the ever-present press of unresolved tension between the Kim best friends.

            Wu Yifan, another of their friends, had actually once joked that if the two Kims ever got over their issues and got together—not just for the more-than-occasional make-out session, but for _real_ —at least they wouldn’t have to change their names on the marriage certificate. That earned him identical slaps on the back of the head; he was taller than both and older at least than Jongdae, but Yifan had made the mistake of staying seated while he’d said it and that was enough of an opening for the two Kims to take advantage of the rare equality in height.

            With Yifan came Xiao Luhan, and wherever Luhan was, Oh Sehun was not far behind. Yifan and Luhan were both Chinese and had come from the same high school to attend university in Korea. They hadn’t really known each other before both enrolled at SKSU, but both were the same age and year as Minseok and all three had become friends while dorming together during their first year.

            Kyungsoo, never much one for formalities—at least when it came to _languages_ —had called both Chinese students “Ge” from their first meeting, and had then launched into a series of introductory questions in rapid-fire Mandarin. The two foreign boys were stunned at first, but quickly found the younger’s excitement endearing and answered all of Kyungsoo’s inquiries with patience. The Do boy was beyond pleased to have _actual_ native speakers to converse with, and Junmyeon, by now used to his best friend’s love of languages—above all else—and the brash way with which he usually expressed himself, took no offense at what he assumed was an unintentional barb toward Junmyeon’s own Mandarin skills.

            As for the final member of their little friend group, ironically, Sehun had been Luhan’s Korean tutor before the two had started dating. Kyungsoo and Junmyeon had nearly _died_ when they heard this, and had been laughing so hard that Sehun had gotten offended and almost refused to share the story of how the two had first met and eventually gotten together. Needless to say, Kyungsoo was right and it _was_ weird, especially because Sehun hadn’t even started studying for his college entrance exams when Luhan had first arrived in Seoul. But now Luhan was in his final year at SKSU, and Sehun had just started his first term at the same university as his boyfriend. And anyway, in Luhan’s defense, Sehun had lied about his age to get hired by the tutoring company in the first place, so it wasn’t _Luhan’s_ fault that he’d started liking the younger boy when Sehun was still very much underage.

            Unfortunately for Luhan and Sehun, both had class on Tuesday afternoon, and Yifan, usually had to work at that time too, which is why only Minseok and Jongdae were available as witnesses to Kyungsoo’s perpetuation of Junmyeon’s “utter humiliation.”

            “Stop being so dramatic, Jun-ie,” Minseok had said, ruffling the younger boy’s hair as he too sat down at their study table. “A crush is nothing to be embarrassed about,” he added, now pointedly looking _anywhere_ except at the attractive junior sitting next to him.

            “That’s rich,” Kyungsoo teased, “coming from you, hyung.”

            Minseok responded by rolling his eyes at Kyungsoo and sticking out his tongue; he might be the oldest, but definitely not the most mature—just ask his troll of a best friend, Jongdae.

            “The _point_ ,” Junmyeon interrupted, before the two could begin bickering, “is that the Chemistry Club now meets on Thursdays in this wing, and so we have to take our study sessions elsewhere.”

            Kyungsoo scoffed. “ _That_ , my dear dear best friend, is hardly the _point_.” He turned to their other two friends and said, “You see, gentlemen, the _true_ point here is that Jun-hyung and I could just go to another place in the library—the Linguistics Center, perhaps? Just a thought. And yet, Junmyeon here thoughtfully suggested we relocate to that little café across the street.”

            He paused for dramatic effect and all three rolled their eyes at him—again. He rolled his in retaliation and it soon became an all out battle of eye-rolling before a throat cleared and the eldest of the four stopped his participation long enough to turn and face the newcomer. (Kyungsoo, Jongdae, and Junmyeon, of course, remained fiercely engaged in combat and did not see who had stolen Jongdae’s fellow soldier from battle.)

            Minseok had to _actively_ keep himself from rolling his eyes at his friends’ childishness, and quickly apologized to the boy now standing in front of the table.

            “Sorry,” Minseok said with mirth in his voice, “these youngsters get a little carried away sometimes.”

            Kyungsoo was _sure_ he heard an accented voice say “That’s alright.” Unfortunately, he couldn’t be positive because he was quickly distracted by a suddenly bright red Junmyeon who squeaked at the stranger’s voice and slid out of his chair to hide under the _glass_ table. The three friends looked at Junmyeon in surprise, but Kyungsoo is also _sure_ he heard a low chuckle, which in turn prompted a glance at the person whose voice had so startled his best friend.

            The boy in question was average in height, with black hair, and simply _adorable_ dimples. What struck Kyungsoo, though, was the pile of coupons the boy was carrying, all of which had “Cacoepy Café” written in large letters across the top. (Kyungsoo had to pause in his processing at this point, because it amused him that the name of the café referred to “poor or wrong pronunciation” and this was _Junmyeon’s_ love life they were talking about here. That irony was too rich to go to waste.)

            Well, the coupons and the unmistakable scent of coffee which clung so tightly to the boy that it seemed like a part of his essence. But Kyungsoo was confused. Junmyeon didn’t drink coffee—he never had—so then why…?

            Oh. _Oh._

            Study on Thursdays in the coffee shop, Kyungsoo’s foot. _Ha._


	3. Coupons from Cacoepy

            Kyungsoo looked at the coffee boy again, seeing him in a new light and this time trying to take in his features from Junmyeon’s perspective.

            The Kim boy, on that note, was _still_ cowering under the table which was _still_ —by the way—made of _glass_. At this point, Kyungsoo assumed it was not only embarrassment that put his friend underneath their study table in the first place, but embarrassment that _also_ kept him there. Because really, that glass was doing nothing to hide the blush on Junmyeon’s face, or the fact that he was again wearing a self-inflicted hand mask.

            Coffee boy took it all in with a smirk, highlighting the dimples Kyungsoo had noticed earlier and producing yet another squeak from Junmyeon—because _dimples_.

            Minseok, ever the caring hyung, took it upon himself to transfer attention away from the hiding boy and said, “You work at that café across the street. Zhang something, right?”

            Chinese? Kyungsoo thought with heightened interest. Since he was the apparent object of Junmyeon’s affections, that the barista was Chinese explained _a lot_ actually.

            The new arrival continued to smile—nothing seemed to faze this guy—and nodded in response to Minseok’s question. Meanwhile, Junmyeon slowly made his way back into the seat he’d abandoned and muttered “Yixing” under his breath.

            “Huh?” Jongdae asked, turning to Junmyeon. “Did you say something?”

            Junmyeon merely coughed in response, and continued to look absolutely _mortified_.

            “Yixing?” Kyungsoo questioned in a—Junmyeon considered it sadistic—attempt to be simultaneously helpful for Junmyeon’s crush and further embarrassing for the crusher himself.

            Again, the coffee boy—Yixing—nodded in agreement, and Kyungsoo had the thought that this boy was definitely one of few words, so it _must_ be the dimples that Junmyeon was so helplessly attracted to.

            “Did you need something?” Kyungsoo continued, this time in Mandarin.

As often happened when Kyungsoo displayed his prowess as a linguist and communicated with someone in their native language, Yixing’s eyes brightened considerably, and he replied with an answer much longer than the single-word ones he’d used up to that point. In fact, Yixing seemed suddenly so _eager_ to talk to Kyungsoo, that Junmyeon felt a spark of jealousy in his chest and decided he could muster the courage to talk to his crush as long as it meant Yixing was _not_ talking to Kyungsoo.

            So, before the Chinese boy could respond to Kyungsoo’s question, Junmyeon asked—also in Mandarin—“You’re here to hand out coupons, aren’t you?”

            If Yixing had been surprised at Kyungsoo’s Mandarin, he was even more impressed with Junmyeon’s. The coffee boy hadn’t expected the cute, but quiet, boy who so often frequented the café to be able to effectively communicate in _Korean_ , let alone _Yixing’s_ language. It’s too bad that the Do boy couldn’t hear Yixing’s thoughts though, because Kyungsoo would have laughed himself silly. (1) Because in Kyungsoo’s opinion, Junmyeon really _couldn’t_ speak Korean, and (2) because Junmyeon wasn’t _cute_ , he was _Junmyeon_.

            “Um, yeah, coupons.” Yixing replied, still in Mandarin. “The café. Coupons.” He finished, lamely, mentally slapping himself at being so judgmental of the cute customer when he apparently couldn’t speak _either_.

            Kyungsoo laughed at the Chinese boy’s words. These two idiots deserve each other, he thought, though not unkindly. Truthfully, Kyungsoo loved Junmyeon like a brother, and he could clearly see that the coffee boy with dimples was just as smitten with Kyungsoo’s friend as Junmyeon was with him.

            The Do boy was about to do something to make up for inadvertently causing his best friend such strong humiliation, but Jongdae cut him off.

            “Speak in Korean, would you?” he complained with a whine. “Chinese came right after lunch in high school, and Min, you _know_ I need my nap after I eat.”

            Indeed this _was_ something Minseok knew about his best friend and occasional make-out partner. Actually, Kyungsoo knew this too because he made it a point to find out the language abilities of those around him—he called it a hobby, Jun-hyung called it classifying and _rude_.

            Kyungsoo and Junmyeon must have both made faces at Jongdae’s words and Minseok’s accompanying nod, because Yixing looked at them when he smiled and said “it’s fine” in Korean.

            Junmyeon was again blinded by the perfection of the coffee boy’s smile, so Kyungsoo thought it a perfect time to enact his earlier action of apology while his best friend was temporarily incapacitated.

            “Actually,” Kyungsoo started, “it’s great that you’re here, Yixing.”

            Junmyeon eyed his best friend warily, but made no move to escape when Kyungsoo came closer and threw an arm around his shoulders. Minseok and Jongdae looked on the pair with interest as Yixing’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly—Kyungsoo noticed, of course—and the Do boy continued.

            “Jun-ie and I,” Junmyeon glared at the nickname but Kyungsoo ignored him—and the fact that Yixing’s shoulders stiffened, noticeably this time. “We were looking for somewhere new to _get together_. You don’t happen to work Thursday afternoons, do you?”

            Yixing looked again at the owl-eyed boy and his arm around the cute customer; Yixing had thought he was single because he always came into Cacoepy alone, but apparently that was _not_ the case.

            “I do, actually,” Yixing sighed out, disappointment underlying his tone. Too distracted by his own misery—and the unwanted image of owl boy and the cute customer acting all coupley in _his_ café—the Chinese boy missed it when Junmyeon’s cheeks flushed red for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. Kyungsoo, however, saw everything, and nudged his friend playfully.

            Junmyeon apparently took the hint because he said tentatively, “I-is it busy t-then?” Mental slap.

            Jongdae barked out a laugh at the usually composed Junmyeon stuttering because of a _boy_ , but his amusement was short lived because Minseok and Junmyeon both kicked his shin in retaliation. He was going to _bruise_ , Jongdae just knew it.

            The dimples emerged at this, mostly because the four seemed to forget that the table was _still_ glass and Yixing could actually see _everything_.

            “It’s not too bad,” the Chinese barista said kindly at the cute customer—Jun-ie, that’s what the owl boy had called him.

            He continued, “Anyway, I really need to give all of these away before my shift is over, so please, take a coupon.” Yixing handed one to each of them, bowing every time and blushing slightly when Kyungsoo jostled against _Jun-ie_ right as he was reaching for a coupon and causing the two’s fingers to brush.

            Junmyeon squeaked again, and this time it was Kyungsoo who sported a newly smarting bruise on his shin, courtesy of Minseok.

            “Nice to meet you all,” Yixing said—more of politeness than anything really—and bowed one last time.

            “Bye Xing-ge!” This from Kyungsoo, speaking in Mandarin again. “We’ll _definitely_ stop by this Thursday, won’t we, Jun-ie?”

            Wink, _wink_. Nudge, _nudge_.

            Yes, thank you, Kyungsoo, Junmyeon had understood. The Kim boy nodded in agreement with his best friend’s words and was rewarded with another smile from the Chinese barista.

            “Please do! Cacoepy Café looks forward to your business.” Yixing said the Café’s set phrase in Mandarin. He bowed again—he thought his back would break if he had to bend over even _one_ more time—and moved away to offer a coupon to the assistant librarian that had harassed Junmyeon and Kyungsoo earlier.

            It wasn’t until _after_ Yixing had already left the science wing that he remembered something important. That Thursday he was supposed to fill in as a dance teacher for a friend who had a doctor’s appointment.

            In other words, he’d replied to _Jun-ie_ ’s question reflexively, but he actually _wasn’t_ going to be working that day. _Curses_.


	4. Jjajangmyun is for Juveniles (and Kyungsoo)

            On the following evening—that Wednesday—Kyungsoo and Junmyeon found themselves in a Chinese restaurant with their friends. The whole group had come together to celebrate Yifan's birthday and were now seated around a large table covered with steaming plates of Yifan's favorite foods.

            Junmyeon cared more about the company than the catering, but Kyungsoo sniffed daintily at the dinner spread before wrinkling his nose in disgust. He recognized most of the dishes from the many times he's eaten over at Junmyeon's while growing up, and he could, of course, name all of them in flawless Mandarin, but that did not at all mean that Kyungsoo was actually going to  _eat_  any of them. Thankfully, Junmyeon knew his best friend well and had pre-ordered Kyungsoo his very own jjajangmyun, thereby leaving the  _actual_  Chinese food to those with more enlightened palettes.

            Kyungsoo's opinion on the quality of food, however, did not affect his ability to enjoy the dinner party or to congratulate Yifan on finally achieving half-fifty. (Minseok and Luhan were already there, despite the other Chinese boy looking physically younger than his  _actually younger_  boyfriend.) Nor—to Junmyeon's chagrin—did Kyungsoo's particular tastebuds deter him from sharing the events of the previous day with those who had been absent from "the fun"—as Jongdae put it.

            Secretly, Junmyeon believed Jongdae would find anything fun as long as Minseok was present for it, but that didn't help lessen his embarrassment any.  _Especially_  when Luhan laughed so hard at Junmyeon's stuttering that he'd started choking on his dumpling and Sehun'd had to ask the waiter for extra water just to get his boyfriend breathing again.

            As someone so gifted in the art of verbal communication, it had always amused Kyungsoo when people couldn't articulate themselves—yes, he'd told Junmyeon, he did realize that made him somewhat of a jerk. So when Luhan had been unable to express with words the hilarity of Junmeyon suffering from that  _same problem_ , Kyungsoo had naturally been unable to hold in his laughter. His best friend obviously realized the source of Kyungsoo's amusement, but Sehun didn't. The group's maknae had assumed Kyungsoo was poking fun at Luhan's near death experience, and had stuck his tongue out at the owl-eyed boy in what was doubtless meant as menacing retaliation but ended up more like aegyo.

            The brief glimpse of his boyfriend's tongue—and the adorable pout that followed it—was enough to get Luhan choking again. (Sometimes he forgot how  _effortlessly_  attractive his young lover could be.) Luckily for Junmyeon, this meant another scurry for water and a more permanent shift in conversation away from the unfortunate encounter of the previous afternoon.

            It wasn't until they had all finished eating and had gone next door for ice cream—courtesy of the Hotels Kim heir—that the topic came up again. Kyungsoo had apparently decided that one best friend wasn't enough in the way of moral support and had asked who else was available as Junmyeon's wingmen.

            Minseok was never available on Thursdays—he had class from 8 to 8—but Jongdae needed to meet with two other boys for a group project and figured Cacoepy Cafe was as good a spot as any. Luhan was supposed to have Thursdays free that term but had  _just_  signed up for a recreational dance class on a whim.

            "I'm taking Minho's one, so I'll be busy Thursdays," he told his friends apologetically, turning his doe eyes on Kyungsoo and Junmyeon specifically as he said it.

            "Minho?" Yifan asked incredulously. "Please tell me you don't mean Choi Minho, right?" At this point the birthday boy was practically  _begging_.

            Luhan had the decency to look at least a little guilty, but Sehun and Kyungsoo were just confused.

            "Who's Choi Minho?" both asked curiously, each turning at the same time to his respective partner with an eyebrow raised questioningly.

            "Stop that, you two," Minseok said. "It's creepy."

            "Yeah!" Jongdae chimed in, lifting his head from where it had previously been resting on his best friend's shoulder. "Creepy!"

            Minseok shushed the younger boy with a smack on the back of the head which, conveniently enough, returned Jongdae to his original position. Junmyeon raised an eye at the eldest boy's actions and Minseok blushed, but said nothing.

            "Minho is Yifan's ex," Junmyeon said, as if that answered everything.

            And maybe it did. Minho couldn't be called Yifan's ex- _boyfriend_  because the two had never actually dated. (Yifan had been a sophomore at the time and while he was already out to his friends and completely comfortable with his sexual orientation, Minho—still a freshman and unaccustomed to the freedom university brings—definitely wasn't.) The two had spent inordinate amounts of time making out behind the stacks of Kyungsoo and Junmyeon's very own science wing, but hadn't progressed very far past that. Eventually, Yifan had gotten tired of Minho constantly wanting to hide  _whatever_  they were, and when the latter's hometown  _girlfriend_  had shown up to their shared Biology class one day, Yifan decided he'd had enough.

            Ironically, if the rumors were true, Minho had since broken up with his girlfriend and was now playing Yifan's role in his pursuit of some freshman named Taemin. Regardless, Yifan didn't look too kindly on Minho and was less than pleased to be reminded of the other boy, and on his  _birthday_  no less.

            "Sorry, Yifan-ah," Luhan said quietly in Mandarin.

            (That was another thing Kyungsoo liked about speaking so many languages—private conversations were never  _private_  when he was around. Junmyeon had something to say on _that_ , too.)

            Yifan ran a hand through his perfectly coiffed hair and sighed. "You don't have to apologize, Lu-Lu," he replied, also in Mandarin.

            "I'm still sorry though," Luhan said, apologizing for the second time.He switched back to Korean. "When I first signed up I didn't realize that the instructor Minho was  _the_  Minho from when we were sophomores. And then when I went to the first class last week and realized who he was, the guy was so polite and apologetic that I didn't think it was right to drop just because the teacher might have once broken your heart."

            "Wow, Lu," Minseok butted in, "way to be sensitive."

            But the birthday boy just rolled his eyes and told Luhan that if he wanted to learn how to dance, Yifan certainly wasn't going to stop him.

            "Besides," Yifan said with a slight chuckle, "we were all idiots back then anyway."

            " _I_  wasn't," Kyungsoo replied, instantly receiving a flick on the forehead from Minseok and an eye roll from Junmyeon.

            "Idiot," Jongdae said teasingly.

            "Yah!" shouted Kyungsoo as he reached over to where Jongdae's head was still on Minseok's shoulder and pulled on the younger Kim's ear.

            "You're  _both_  idiots," Sehun sniffed. "Anyway," he continued before the other two could protest, "if this Minho is so awful, I'm not sure I want my Luhan-nie anywhere near him."

            Luhan found protective Sehun incredibly attractive—actually Luhan found  _everything_  about Oh Sehun incredibly attractive—but in that moment his boyfriend was being particularly  y. The older boy leaned over to give his boyfriend a quick peck but it soon turned in to a full on make-out session that Junmyeon swears lasted at least two minutes.

            (Yifan silently wondered if anyone even remembered it's his birthday, and this time it was Kyungsoo who rolled his eyes.  _Love_ , the Do boy thought—with no small amount of sarcasm—really does bring out the worst in people.  _Gross_.)

            Once breathing became an  _absolute_  necessity and the pair were forced to separate, Luhan told his boyfriend that it was sweet he wanted to be protective but Minho was harmless, really. Dejected, now that his Thursday afternoons were suddenly Luhan-free, Sehun begrudgingly agreed to accompany Kyungsoo and Jongdae as Junmyeon's—unwanted—wingmen.

            That left Yifan as the only person who hadn't said, one way or another, what his Thursday plans were. The Chinese boy was still reminiscing about his memories of Luhan's new dance teacher when suddenly the sound of EXO's "Call Me Baby" filled the air.

            He answered the phone in Korean—"Hello, this is Yifan speaking"—before hearing some type of confirmation on the other end of the line and switching to converse in Chinese.

            " _Yes_ ," he said, a little exasperated, "I'm still free tomorrow to meet with you."

            He nodded at something the other person said before continuing, "By the way, you know that when I gave you my phone to enter your number, that wasn't permission to change my ringtone."

            The speaker on the other end said something else and Yifan's cheeks tinted pink.

            "Oh," he said, "that one's just for you? "Call Me Baby" though, really?"

            Again, the other person said something, although it apparently annoyed Yifan because he said "Alright, I'm hanging up now.  _Yes_ , Zitao, I'll see you tomorrow. Mhmm. Okay, bye," and quickly disconnected the call.

            Junmyeon raised an eyebrow at his friend and the rest of the group leaned forward with barely concealed interest.

            "Does our little Yifan-nie have a date?" Jongdae asked patronizingly.

            "Watch who you're calling little, Chen-ssi." Yifan replied. "And it's not a  _date,"_ he said, though for some reason he was still blushing.  _"_ Zitao just wants to interview me for a project he's doing about college athletes and stress. Apparently he's studying psych and this is research he needs to complete a big project for his major."

            Kyungsoo knew of Huang Zitao. Kyungsoo knew that the boy was tall, looked like a panda, and was rumored to have been a martial arts champion back in China before he'd come to SKSU for study abroad. Kyungsoo also knew that Zitao was studying fashion,  _not_  psychology, and that the project the younger Chinese boy was working on might possibly exist, but very likely didn't.

            But Kyungsoo liked the way Yifan's eyes lit up when he saw Zitao's name on the Caller ID, and how his Chinese friend had started blushing almost as soon as he'd answered the phone.

            So the owl-eyed boy said nothing except that he should get  _paid_  for this and that it was just too bad Yifan couldn't be at the cafe Thursday. The others had dutifully agreed with Kyungsoo before wishing Yifan one last "Happy Birthday," and going their separate ways.

            The next morning, Sehun was overly affectionate, peppering his boyfriend with kisses and holding his hand tightly as the two walked to class. Luhan knew that Sehun had never been the best with  _words_  and that this was his boyfriend's way of saying "I'm here if you need me." Even though the older boy doubted anything would go wrong in his dance class that day, the message behind Sehun's actions  was appreciated.

            The weather that day was a little colder than one might expect from a day in early September, so Yifan had quickly run home after class to grab a light jacket before he left to meet with Zitao. The younger exchange student was a little unpredictable to be sure, but Yifan loved university almost as much as basketball, and he was excited to share those passions with someone, even if that person  _was_  only interested because he wanted an A.

            Finally, that Thursday saw Junmyeon in Minseok and Jongdae's shared apartment—yes, the two lived together—furiously brushing his teeth after yet another failed attempt at drinking coffee. Junmyeon had considered asking Kyungsoo to help him learn how to drink the acrid black liquid, but had reconsidered when he imagined the glee Kyungsoo would take in Junmyeon's embarrassment about the whole situation.

            So he'd gone to Minseok and begged his hyung to make him coffee. Minseok had class early that morning, but he'd at least given Junmyeon a Starbucks menu before rushing out the door to his lecture. It was actually Jongdae who was most helpful in resolving the matter because he'd told Junmyeon to simply order everything on the menu and try all of it until he found something he liked. Unfortunately that seemed easier said than done, and resulted in Junmyeon spending his entire monthly allowance on stupid  _coffee_.

            Not that he couldn't always go to his father's secretary for more money, but  _still_ , the things he did for love.


	5. An Unexpected Understudy

            At _last_ it was Thursday afternoon. Junmyeon and Jongdae were standing outside Cacoepy Café, the former waiting anxiously for his best friend/wingman, the latter for his two project partners, both of whom seemed to be running late. Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol had texted to let Jongdae know they would be there soon, but Kyungsoo remained conspicuously absent and _that_ made Junmyeon even more nervous.

            After Jongdae’s classmates arrived, the three waited with Junmyeon outside the café for an additional five minutes, but there was still no sign of the Do boy. At that point, Baekhyun—who was worried that the lingering summer heat would smudge his eyeliner—decided “forget this” and grabbed Chanyeol and Jongdae by the arms, trying to pull both inside. Kyungsoo chose that moment to _finally_ arrive, and introductions were quickly made between Junmyeon’s best friend and Jongdae’s homework partners.

            “Sorry I was late,” Kyungsoo said apologetically. “I was talking to my professor after class and lost track of time.”

            It was well-known amongst Kyungsoo’s friends that the owl-eyed boy liked to converse with those people whom he considered same-level intelligent, so the fact that Kyungsoo had delayed the progression of Junmyeon’s love life in order to solidify his position as teacher’s pet was not surprising to anyone.

            Junmyeon was particularly aware of this trait, and scoffed at his friend’s sorry excuse before calling Kyungsoo a “pretentious idiot,” albeit lovingly.

            “Bite m—,” Kyungsoo was about to respond, but changed his mind at the last minute and said, “Actually, don’t.” (If Kyungsoo was historically elitist, Junmyeon was infallibly literal. In fact, Kyungsoo had been injured at the hands of his best friend on more than one occasion— “How was I supposed to know that when you told me to bite you, you didn’t actually _mean_ it!?”)

            Baekhyun was understandably bemused by the whole exchange, and turned to Jongdae as the two best friends continued bickering. “Are your friends always like this?” he asked.

            “Unfortunately” was Jongdae’s response.

            This elicited a commiserating nod from Chanyeol. “Yeah,” he said sympathetically, “ours too.”

            With that as encouragement—the fact that he and his friends weren’t _uniquely_ weird—Junmyeon mustered his courage and entered the coffee shop. Kyungsoo had been so caught up in their faux-fight that he was surprised by Junmyeon’s sudden absence and rushed in right after. Jongdae shrugged toward Baekhyun and Chanyeol as if to say “What can you do?” and all three went in too.

            Once his eyes had adjusted to the change from the sunlight of an early September afternoon to the cozily lit interior of Cacoepy Café, Junmyeon was surprised to notice that the place itself was almost as cute as the barista who worked there. (Kyungsoo commented that _quaint_ might be a better word to describe the coffee shop, but Junmyeon was nothing if not stubborn, and remained a fan of the original comparison.)

            Whether quaint or cute, Cacoepy Café was small and, at that moment, also _empty_. Not only were there no people seated at any of the tables or in the individual armchairs, but behind the counter was vacant too. Junmyeon felt all of his temporarily banished anxiety return with a flourish and thought he might just pass out right there.

            Thankfully, Kyungsoo recognized the look of panic that suddenly appeared on his best friend’s face and gently suggested that Junmyeon might be of use in helping Baekhyun and Chanyeol find a table. The taller of Jongdae’s study partners took a long look at the vacant seating areas and raised an inquisitive eyebrow in Kyungsoo’s direction. Baekhyun was a little more perceptive and nudged forward by Jongdae, took the hint—and Junmyeon—to go sit down.

            The space behind the counter had been painted black with chalkboard paint, and Jongdae excitedly perused the menu written on the wall while Kyungsoo, though he’d never been overly fond of sweets, found himself admiring the array of baked desserts displayed prettily upon the wooden countertop. Chanyeol had dutifully followed Baekhyun and had watched as his friend tried valiantly to calm Junmyeon down a little. Despite Baekhyun’s administrations, however, the oldest boy couldn’t stop himself from pacing back and forth in front of their chosen table while he waited for the object of his affection to make an appearance.

            Kyungsoo was still focused on the various goodies—he thought he could be convinced to try a slice of coffee cake—when he heard a soft “oof” and the unmistakable sound of who he assumed was Junmyeon sinking into one of the café’s cushioned chairs. The Do boy reflexively looked up in response to his friend’s actions and met the eyes of someone who was definitely _not_ Yixing.

            The other boy smiled generically at Kyungsoo and finished closing the door of the café’s back room behind him. Straightening his apron, he made his way behind the counter and turned to the two waiting customers.

            “What can I get you?” he asked politely, his voice enriched by a barely detectable country accent.

            “Zhang Yixing!” Junmyeon shouted from somewhere behind Kyungsoo, and the owl-eyed boy felt his face flush in embarrassment that his friend would act so childishly in front of this perfect human specimen. But at Junmyeon’s exclamation, the barista’s controlled smile became a real one, and Kyungsoo was shocked to find that when the other boy smiled, his eyes nearly disappeared into two little half-moons that were absolutely _adorable_.

            “Sorry,” the barista directed toward Junmyeon, “Yixing’s out today.” He chuckled before turning his attention back to the two in front of the order counter and repeating his earlier question, “What can I get you?”

            In that moment, though Kyungsoo desperately wanted to open his mouth and order something delicious from the ~~delicious~~ barista in front of him, he found himself completely tongue-tied. Instead, he merely gaped at the boy who was still waiting and staring at him expectantly. When Kyungsoo finally managed to re-gather at least some of his wits, he turned to Jongdae for help, but his friend was too busy giggling at Kyungsoo’s misfortune to be of any assistance.

            Kyungsoo had only managed an “Um” before Chanyeol, who had been in the bathroom and missed all the commotion, shouted out “Kim Jongin! I didn’t know you worked here!”

            Junmyeon, Kyungsoo, and Jongdae assumed the barista was the Kim Jongin that Chanyeol was talking to because the barista in question suddenly raised his hand to rub the back of his neck sheepishly.

            “Yeah,” he said to Chanyeol as the latter made his way over. “I got a part-time job to pay for my…” Jongin paused there and Kyungsoo wanted to know _why_. “Expenses,” the barista finished lamely.

            Chanyeol nodded, as if he knew something the others didn’t. “Anyway,” he said to Jongin, “I’m here with Baek. We’re supposed to be working on a project with Jongdae here but I guess the guy had an ulterior motive when he suggested this place for our meeting.”

            As if he’d heard his name—which he probably _did_ because the café was still very much empty—Baekhyun came strolling up to the counter, Junmyeon in tow.

            The Byun boy greeted the barista warmly. “Hi Jongin! Congrats on the job!” A wrinkle appeared on his forehead and he looked pensive for a minute before saying, “Though I wish I’d known you were looking for employment; the manager of the music store where I work said we needed to bring someone new in.”

            Jongin blushed under Baekhyun’s scrutiny and Kyungsoo got the strangest feeling in the pit of his stomach. He imagined that sensation was what people meant when they mentioned butterflies and other such nonsense, but even stronger was the feeling of want. Baekhyun’s comment was the second time someone had mentioned Jongin in the context of needing money, and Kyungsoo wanted to _know_ what everyone was talking about.

            Baekhyun, oblivious to the thoughts swirling around in Kyungsoo’s head, continued his conversation with Jongin.

            “Do you usually work Thursdays?” he asked the barista inquisitively. “I thought you have normally have practice.”

            Jongin nodded and told Baekhyun that the space he usually used had been bought out so until another studio was found, Jongin was forced to stop his regular Thursday afternoon practices. Since his Thursdays were now free for the unforeseen future, when Minho had called Yixing and asked the Chinese boy to cover his dance class, Jongin had volunteered to take Yixing’s shift for him.

            It fascinated Kyungsoo that the longer Jongin spoke to Baekhyun, the more obvious his accent became. The barista slipped into satoori about half-way through his explanation, and Kyungsoo’s inability to understand much of Jongin’s dialect was fascinating _too_. Surprisingly, in all his study of various foreign languages, it had never occurred to Kyungsoo to study Korean dialectic speech, and in that moment he was certainly kicking himself for such an utter lack of foresight. (Junmyeon later mentioned that he was glad Kyungsoo was rethinking his prejudices. Kyungsoo said that he actually _wasn’t_ , and that people who communicated in satoori should either learn to speak their native language properly or not speak it at all. Junmyeon said nothing and merely smirked at his friend in response.)

            Baekhyun responded to Jongin’s story with a grimace. “Yixing should really learn how to say no,” he said of the other barista.

            Chanyeol agreed with Baekhyun on that, but Jongin thought that their friend was simply a really nice person who liked aiding others when he was available to do so.

            “Wait,” Junmyeon interrupted, “you three know Zhang Yixing?”

            Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at his friend’s slowness. It had always taken Junmyeon a little longer to catch onto things—like the reason why in high school Kyungil would close and lock his room door whenever Yijeong came over, even though Junmyeon assured Kyungsoo’s hyung that neither of the younger boys would disturb their “studying”—so Kyungsoo wasn’t surprised that Junmyeon hadn’t realized Jongdae’s study partners, the unbearably attractive barista, and the dimpled coffee boy were all friends. He couldn’t say any of this out loud, of course, because any time Kyungsoo thought about opening his mouth to speak, he’d take one look at the boy behind the counter and his brain would suddenly be empty except for a continuous loop of “Jongin, Jongin, _Jongin_. His name is Kim Jongin.”

            At some point, Jongin realized he’d been completely ignoring _actual_ customers by conversing with his two friends, and turned to face Kyungsoo, Junmyeon, and Jongdae, repeating for the _third_ time, “What can I get you?”

            Kyungsoo could only squeak in response—now he knew why Junmyeon had hidden himself under the glass study table—especially when Jongin looked at him in particular and asked in a concerned voice if the owl-eyed boy was alright and if he wanted anything.

            “You!” Kyungsoo blurted out, much to his _eternal_ humiliation.

            Jongin looked at him in confusion as Jongdae started giggling again.

            Kyungsoo managed to say “Uh, you—r recommendation. I meant I want your recommendation,” before turning away to hide the blush that was threatening to consume his face with its flames.

            The barista still wore a look of confused concern, but quickly rattled off some fancy sounding coffee order that was basically a bunch of sugar masquerading as caffeinated refreshment in liquid form. Kyungsoo could only nod at Jongin’s suggestion, especially when the barista’s eyes returned to those adorable half-moons at the further recommendation of whipped cream.

            Two days of nerves at seeing Yixing again had made Junmyeon unbelievably cranky, so the Kim boy could admit to severe disappointment at hearing his crush wasn’t even working that Thursday. Seeing Kyungsoo unable to verbally communicate in the face of Yixing’s barista replacement, though, was an amusing alternative. Junmyeon found it particularly hilarious that Kyungsoo—who still didn’t like sweets—had been so easily persuaded to order not only whatever sugary concoction Jongin had suggested, but also a thick slice of vanilla-frosted coffee cake. He watched Kyungsoo obediently pay for his order when Jongin asked, and assumed from the dazed look on his friend’s face that the boy was having some sort of out-of-body experience, and would later ask why Junmyeon hadn’t tried to _stop_ him.

            With that look to the future, Junmyeon leaned toward Kyungsoo as the latter was signing his payment receipt and said, “I thought you didn’t like sweets?”

            Kyungsoo thought he had died and gone to heaven when Jongin’s lips came together in a perfect O at Junmyeon’s words. The barista was about to ask the cute, owl-eyed customer why he’d agreed to the recommendation if he didn’t like sugary drinks. And why he’d ordered _cake_. Before he could, however, Kyungsoo blushed again and turned to face his best friend.

            “Shut up,” he bit out in breathless Mandarin. This time, when Jongdae started giggling, Junmyeon joined him.

            Flustered, Kyungsoo left his friends behind at the order counter and went to place his things at the table Baekhyun and Chanyeol had previously selected. Junmyeon followed his friend not long after, but Kyungsoo had already decided to pout, and wouldn’t speak when Junmyeon tried to laughingly apologize.

            The café was still empty by the time Jongdae, Baekyun, and Chanyeol had finished ordering, so Jongdae had no problem chatting happily with Jongdae and his friends while the three waited for him to finish preparing their drinks.

            After a few minutes, Jongdae joined Junmyeon and Kyungsoo at their table, carrying the latter’s drink in his hand.

            “Here,” he said, handing Kyungsoo his iced, non-fat, caramel latte with _extra_ whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

            “You’re welcome, by the way,” Jongdae continued, chuckling at grimace on Kyungsoo’s face as he tried his first sip of the sugary goodness.

            “For what?” Kyungsoo asked, still attempting to down what Jongin had suggested and having a really poor time of it. He caught a whiff of the whipped cream and nearly gagged.

            Jongdae rolled his eyes at Kyungsoo’s dramatics. “I stayed and did _recon_. Duh.”

            Oh. Junmyeon had thought Jongdae was simply getting to know his classmates better. Apparently not. The more mischievous Kim started looking at Kyungsoo expectantly, but it was Junmyeon who caved first, asking Jongdae what on earth he’d found out about Jongin to want to share it so _desperately_.

            Jongdae sniffed in faux annoyance. “That makes me sound like a gossiping market Ahjumma,” he compained.

            “Aren’t you?” Kyungsoo quipped, slightly annoyed that Jongdae knew more about the mysteriously attractive barista than             Kyungsoo did. It wasn’t fair; Jongdae had Minseok.

            “I’m not, _actually_ ,” Jongdae responded to his friend’s insult. “And stop interrupting!” he added.

            Impatient, and now nearly dying of curiosity, Junmyeon almost shouted “Fine! Just get on with it!”

            This unexpected outburst startled Jongdae right into his story. “Well,” he said, “Chanyeol asked Jongin how he expects to do his choreography homework now that he doesn’t have a practice studio, but Jongin just brushed him off with an “I’m sure it’ll work out.””

            Again, Kyungsoo wanted to know what the  was going on with Jongin.

            His friend continued, “Then Jongin asked if the class we were working together for was Mandarin because Baekhyun had mentioned to Yixing that he taking that class with Chanyeol. I was going to tell him it was actually for Economic Democracy, but before I could, Jongin looked at Chanyeol and both started laughing. Apparently the two of them went to the same high school in Busan and Jongin was notorious for being absolutely unable to learn any foreign language.”

            Jongdae stopped his story here to breathe, and Junmyeon thought that Jongin and Chanyeol might find the story funny, but the inability to speak anything other than Korean was definitely no laughing matter to _Kyungsoo_.

            Baekhyun made his way over to their table and caught the last ends of Jongdae’s explanation.

            “Oh yeah,” he contributed, “Jongin’s _really bad_. I remember Yeol-lie telling me that Jongin in their high school Mandarin class was actually painful to witness. I think the school even let him out of the foreign language requirements his senior year because the English and Mandarin teachers refused to have him in their classes.”

            Both Junmyeon and Kyungsoo sucked in a breath. The former was concerned for his best friend; he’d recognized the look on Kyungsoo’s face as one Junmyeon himself often wore around Yixing, and he didn’t want Kyungsoo to be disappointed that Jongin wasn’t as expected.

            Except Kyungsoo had sucked in a breath because he too had expected to be disappointed, only he _wasn’t_. The Do boy had been quite young at the time, but he could still vividly remember the wild beating of his heart during his whole two minutes of crushing on Junmyeon. Equally vivid was the abrupt ending of that crush when Junmyeon hadn’t been able to properly speak to Kyungsoo in Korean.

            Yet here Kyungsoo was, twelve years later, entering a similar situation with the same expectations yet receiving completely and unexpectedly different results. Because Jongin couldn’t speak _anything_ , and Kyungsoo found that appalling, but he liked the boy _anyway_.

            That worried him. Not that Jongin didn’t do foreign languages, but that Kyungsoo desperately wanted to _do_ Jongin. (Oh, God, that was cheesy.) But he _couldn't_ because Kyungsoo didn't know any other way to communicate. Languages had always worked for him, but since he couldn't even form coherent thoughts in Jongin's presence, Kyungsoo doubted knowing how to ask for less sugar in nine different languages would be of much help.


	6. A Date for D.O.

               Though Kyungsoo could have spent the next  _week_  daydreaming about the perfection that was Kim Jongin—and done so happily—he was a university student above all else, and ended up studying instead.

 

               As for Junmyeon, Kyungsoo often said while they were growing up that his best friend was too easily distracted; as it turned out, the coffee boy with dimples was proving more distracting to Junmyeon than anything ever had in his whole life.

 

               When the two met again for their regular studying on Tuesdays, and once they’d completed their usual routine of “Hyung, it’s  _so_  far” and “Deal with it,” Junmyeon slumped down dejectedly in his chair, moaning something about having too strong a craving for coffee to be productive on his school assignments. (Kyungsoo allowed Junmyeon the pretense and chose  _not_  to ask what  _kind_  of coffee it was that had finally suited his best friend’s taste buds.)

 

               “Hyung,” Kyungsoo said, internally amused but outwardly stone-faced. “Study.”

 

               Junmyeon groaned and Kyungsoo relished the fact that probably all of his friends could benefit from a lesson in linguistics and/or communication. Mostly the latter, actually. And courtesy of himself, obviously.

 

               “You’re so cold, Soo,” Junmyeon lamented. “If I hadn’t seen you so uncharacteristically tongue-tied over Yixing’s tanned replacement last Thursday, I’d think you didn’t even have a heart!”

 

               The words were harsh, but Junmyeon had never explicitly called Kyungsoo heartless, and anyway, Kyungsoo knew Junmyeon didn’t  _really_  mean any of it. He also knew that it was physically impossible to live without a heart, and since Junmyeon remained literal to a fault, it was unlikely that the older boy would  _ever_  say something so impractical. Still, Kyungsoo was really only looking out for his friend’s best interests, so he chose to look slightly put out at Junmyeon’s words—even though he really wasn’t.

 

               Kyungsoo pouted and said “You’re so mean to me, hyung.” 

 

               Confronted with the full strength of his best friend's owl eyes and heart lips, Junmyeon felt a little sheepish all of a sudden. He was fully prepared to apologize, but then Kyungsoo followed up with a scowl and an insulted “And didn’t I teach you better insults than that? Seriously!”

 

               Junmyeon decided that the feelings he had toward the Do boy in that moment were actually the  _farthest_  thing from apologetic, so he chose to just ignore Kyungsoo—as he so often did when Kyungsoo was unintentionally arrogant like that—and start on an essay instead.

 

               Kyungsoo smirked to himself at a job well done before he, too, started studying.

 

               Two afternoons later, Kyungsoo was already sitting in the campus café when he got a frantic text from Junmyeon. Kyungsoo’s class had ended abruptly when the professor’s wife had suddenly gone into labor. As a result, the students were let out early and Kyungsoo had arrived almost an entire hour before he and Junmyeon usually met.

 

               Honestly, Kyungsoo had tried studying by himself while he waited, but he soon found that looking over boring texts—which weren’t even particularly challenging for him, by the way—was  _only_  bearable with Junmyeon around to annoy.

 

               Yixing was here though— _that_  at least promised interesting things to come.

 

               Well, it would if the texts Kyungsoo had just gotten weren’t first a panicked “I can’t do it, Kyungie!” immediately followed by an “I know! I’ll just be single for the rest of my life, okay?” (Kyungsoo had a terrifying moment of clairvoyance in which he saw a Junmyeon who was 30 years older, smelled like manhwas and cup noodles, and was surrounded by cats. It was shudder-inducing, to say the least.)

 

               “Nope,” was Kyungsoo’s unfeeling response.

 

               He was formulating some convincing argument that would be strong enough to get Junmyeon to stop being such a coward, when Jongin walked in. The Kim boy smiled at Kyungsoo in recognition as he passed on his way to the employee room, and Kyungsoo literally spluttered. (How  _embarrassing_.) The next message he sent to Junmyeon was quick, but to the point: “KIM JONGIN IS HERE”

 

               (It was incredibly rare for language snob Kyungsoo to communicate in anything less than perfect grammar, so the lack of punctuation in his text was enough to indicate to Junmyeon that his best friend had entered total panic mode—as if the pervasive caps lock weren’t already enough.)

 

               Kyungsoo took a moment to breathe, hoping Junmyeon had gotten the somewhat subliminal message that Kyungsoo needed him to get to Cacoepy. ASAP. He then sent a string of follow-up text messages.

 

               From **Kyungsoo:** “Jun-hyung.”

 

               From **Kyungsoo:** “Get here.”

 

               From **Kyungsoo:** “Now.”

 

               From **Kyungsoo:** “Seriously.”

 

               From **Kyungsoo:** “He’s perfect and I can’t.”

 

               From **Kyungsoo:** “Ughalkdfjaseaadfa”

 

               By that point, Junmyeon had already started walking from his lecture hall to where Kyungsoo was waiting, but his pace increased to a run as Kyungsoo’s text messages began arriving in full force. Although, it was admittedly hard to move at a fast pace while dying of laughter—which is how Junmyeon felt, especially after receiving supposedly articulate Kyungsoo’s last keyboard smash of a message.

 

               When he finally arrived, Junmyeon was completely out of breath—though he couldn’t help still trying to laugh anyway. Kyungsoo, who was waiting anxiously for his friend to appear, grinned gratefully and waved Junmyeon over, asking with his eyes why Junmyeon was wheezing like a dog with bronchitis. (At least, that’s what Junmyeon  _thinks_  Kyungsoo wanted to know—he could never be completely sure where Kyungsoo and non-verbal communication were concerned.)

 

               Before Junmyeon could corral enough air into his lungs to explain, though, Yixing himself approached their table and asked with obvious concern, "Um...Are you alright?"

 

               Junmyeon lost all his air again.

 

               But Kyungsoo, like the good friend he was, replied smartly instead and said, "Oh him? Yeah, he's fine."

 

               Yixing nodded at that, as if pleased to hear that Junmyeon wasn't  _actually_  dying of asphyxiation. Kyungsoo, however, didn't stop there. "It's just that you," he said, taking a short pause for dramatic effect--his favorite drama character did that all the time and Kyungsoo was a  _fan_ \--"you take our Jun-hyun's breath away."

 

               A furiously blushing Junmyeon kicked Kyungsoo's shin  _hard_  under the table, but since Yixing was also blushing and smiling shyly at Junmyeon's indirect confession via Kyungsoo, the Do boy wasn't exactly sure what it was he'd done to deserve such violence. (He'd always been a believer in talking about his feelings. It just didn't make sense to Kyungsoo that people who  _could_  speak often chose not to. Junmyeon pulled the age card at that and said it was a matter of maturity so, of course, Kyungsoo wouldn't understand. Kyungsoo had retaliated by asking if that wasn't gray in Junmyeon's hair; revenge was sweet when the Kim heir had rushed to the hairdresser and dealt with a bad buzzcut for an entire month.)

 

               Junmyeon was still redder than a tomato when Yixing pulled his lip between his teeth and admitted to Kyungsoo--probably because he couldn't currently look Junmyeon in the eye--"Actually, it's your Jun-hyung who leaves  _me_  breathless."

 

               Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at the excessive level of cheese, but didn't waste the opportunity to mouth a smug "You're welcome!" in Junmyeon's general direction. Also in that general direction, however, was a recently-emerged-from-the-back-to-start-his-shift Jongin, who thought that he was the person with whom Kyungsoo wanted to communicate. Jongin tried to figure out what Kyungsoo was saying, but the layout of Cacoepy was long and thin, and it was unexpectedly easy for Jongin to get long-term distracted by Kyungsoo's pink lips.

 

               Though he saw none of Jongin's struggle to understand something that wasn't even meant for the barista in the first place, Kyungsoo still chose that moment to go order his and Junmyeon's drinks, conveniently leaving his best friend at coffee boy's mercy. When he arrived at the bar, Kyungsoo mulled over his choices and wondered how to one might order a chai tea latte in Thai.

 

               His Thai was a little rusty, though, so Kyungsoo was thinking about settling for a white mocha in Korean instead, when Jongin finally finished helping the previous customer. "What were you trying to say to me?" Jongin asked Kyungsoo curiously.

 

               "Huh?" was Kyungsoo's extraordinarily eloquent reply.  _I wasn't trying to say anything to you_ , he thought at Jongin.  _I can't even formulate complete thoughts in your presence; how do you expect me to mouth you a message from across a room?!_  


 

               "Oh," Jongin said. "So to clarify, you  _weren't_  talking to me because," he paused dramatically and Kyungsoo decided he really  _really_  liked this guy, "you can't think when I'm around?" Jongin grinned and Kyungsoo thought he was going to pass out, especially once he realized he must have thought out loud because there was no way Jongin could know that about Kyungsoo otherwise. Kyungsoo swallowed hard, but Jongin continued. "I thought you were supposed to be some communications  _jjang_  or something, but I don't see it."

 

                _Linguistics_ , Kyungsoo thought helplessly.  _It's actually linguistics._  


 

               Evidently, Jongin made Kyungsoo lose his brain because Kyungsoo said that out loud, too. Jongin just shrugged, said he was a dance major so people who got degrees  _in talking_  didn't make a lot of sense to him, and then asked if Kyungsoo was ready to order yet.

 

               Kyungsoo just nodded dumbly, shocked at himself that he could have a crush on someone who had literally just insulted basically the entirety of Kyungsoo's life skills. It was likely unintentional, but  _still_. "Uh," Kyungsoo ground out, "single?"

 

               Jongin chuckled, because linguistics or communication or  _whatever_ , but Kyungsoo still wasn't saying anything coherent and Jongin thought that was so freakin'  _cute_. "A single what?" Jongin asked, gently leading Kyungsoo through the order process so the Do boy would stop feeling as embarrassed as his blushing face seemed to suggest he was.

 

               In that moment, though, something changed on Kyungsoo's face, and Jongin watched Kyungsoo nod once with determination. "I wasn't referring to beverage size," Kyungsoo breathed out quickly, "I meant you."

 

               Jongin's equivalent to Kyungsoo's language ability was being a dancing machine. That's not to say Jongin wasn't intelligent--it took a lot of brain power not to trip over one's own feet, thank you very much--because he was. But he certainly wasn't on Kyungsoo's level of verbal expression, so when Kyungsoo referred to Jongin and single--Cacoepy's name for the size of a small drink--Jongin was initially confused. Before embarrassing himself and Kyungsoo by being defensive over his  _size_ , however, Jongin thankfully caught on. "Me?" he asked in slight relief, "Yeah." He smiled at Kyungsoo, "I'm single."

 

               "Date me?" Kyungsoo managed to request, still partially blinded by the beauty of Jongin's eye-crinkling grin.

 

               "Can you dance?" Jongin asked in return.

 

               Kyungsoo bit his lip anxiously and both were startled by the small moan Jongin unconsciously emitted at the sight. Jongin blushed and something about that returned to Kyungsoo the confidence he always seemed to lose with Jongin around. "Not at all," he admitted. "Then again, you insulted my chosen field  _and_  I've heard you're hopeless at learning foreign languages."

 

               Jongin chuckled, but didn't argue. "Does that make us even?" He asked curiously.

 

               "Hmm," Kyungsoo thought for a moment. "If I say yes, then will you go on a date with me?"

 

              Jongin's eyes twinkled as he pretended to contemplate Kyungsoo's question. "Maybe."

 

               Kyungsoo smirked. "In that case," he said triumphantly, "Yes, si, nei, dui, okay-kap, hai--"

 

               "Okay, okay!" Jongin said with a laugh. "I get it! Yes, I'll go out with you! Happy?"

 

               "Actually, no," Kyungsoo said, much to Jongin's surprise. Kyungsoo continued, cheekily."I still haven't ordered, so..."


	7. Epilogue: Goodnight but Not Goodbye

               Kyungsoo opened the door to his room and collapsed onto his bed; he was emotionally exhausted, but also in a really good mood, because he’d just gotten back from dinner with Jongin and it had been amazing. The date itself had been a hot mess—Kyungsoo had wanted everything to be perfect, but when he met a deathly attractive Jongin at the door of Cacoepy, he hadn’t been able to say much more than “Ungh,” even when Jongin complimented him by saying that Kyungsoo cleaned up pretty well.

               Fortunately, Junmyeon had somehow scored a date with Yixing, too, and they had joined Jongin and Kyungsoo’s evening out. (“Just think,” Junmyeon had argued, “if we go on a double date, you can kill me when I say something stupid.” Kyungsoo had laughed but then wanted to know what he got out of the arrangement. “Duh,” Junmyeon replied, as if the answer were obvious, “you might not be able to talk to Jongin, but you never seem to have a problem insulting me. I’ll be there to make sure you don’t turn into a mute pile of mush.” Kyungsoo shoved his best friend, but didn’t argue, silently appreciative that Junmyeon was willing to be deprecated in front of his date for the sake of Kyungsoo’s future happiness.) Unfortunately, though Junmyeon and Yixing were both present to witness Kyungsoo’s utter inability to _utter_ real words, neither Kyungsoo’s best friend nor the dimpled barista had done anything, choosing instead to laugh together at the pouting Do boy’s expense. Things sort of worked out in Kyungsoo’s favor, though, because Jongin had glared at the other two, told them to stop bullying “uri _Kyungie_ ,” and took Kyungsoo’s hand comfortingly to lead him out the door.

               They’d gone to Hongdae for samgyupsal—it was a Friday night, after all—and afterward, an excited Jongin had dragged a much more reluctant Kyungsoo dancing. (Kyungsoo wasn’t exactly sure where Yixing and Junmyeon had disappeared to, but he was too busy trying to stay upright to worry about the fate of his friend’s date.) Though Jongin flirted that he could never get tired of watching Kyungsoo _try_ to dance, the two eventually went home sometime around three in the morning. Kyungsoo was completely knackered, but he was also Jongin’s hyung, and had tried insisting that he walk his date back to his dorm apartment. Jongin, however, would have none of it, and threatened to disturb Junmyeon—where ever he was—if Kyungsoo wouldn’t let Jongin take him home.

               When they reached Kyungsoo’s shared apartment, there had been an awkward moment or two when Kyungsoo wasn’t sure how exactly to say what he wanted.

               “Jongin,” he had started to say, before closing his mouth tightly as if to withdraw his words.

               “Hmm?” the dancer had hummed questioningly in response, glancing down at his date and tightening his grip on Kyungsoo’s hands.

               Kyungsoo had shaken his head, unable to express how much he’d enjoyed himself that night, how much he really _really_ liked Jongin, and how much he hoped Jongin would agree to go out with him again. Instead, he’d just smiled up at Jongin from where the other boy stood facing him, and stood on his tiptoes to kiss Jongin’s cheek gently. He said nothing else before pulling his hands away and letting himself in, but he hoped that the brief touch of his lips to Jongin’s cheek conveyed the “Thank you,” and “Goodnight,” and “I really like you,” and “Get home safely,” that he’d wanted to say, but hadn’t been able to.

               As he rolled around to find a more comfortable position on his bed than simply sprawled out, Kyungsoo felt his phone vibrate underneath him from where he’d tossed it when he first walked in. Expecting a text of apology from Junmyeon for being a horrible wing-man and completely screwing up their double date game plan, Kyungsoo just wasn’t ready for the message that came instead.

               From **Unknown** : i ran into xinghung as I w6as heading back and your friend gave me your number he said you wouldnt mind i hope ahe waaes right. our d8 was fuun btw

               Kyungsoo shrieked and threw his phone across the room. He shrieked again when he thought about how much damage he could have caused to the device that allowed him and Jongin to communicate, and scrambled over his bed to pick it up from where it had landed on the other side. Part of him expected his inability to speak coherent sentences where Jongin was concerned to carry over to this conversation. Luckily, normal Kyungsoo—the one who never hesitated with word choice because he always knew _exactly_ how to say what he wanted to say—seemed present and accounted for when it came to text, so he had no problem thinking of something clever, witty, and borderline flirty to say in response. (It disturbed Kyungsoo that Jongin’s horrible way of texting was not as much a turn off as it should have been; if it were anyone else, Kyungsoo wouldn’t have even bothered to respond.)

               From **Kyungsoo** : I wouldn’t mind…if I knew who this was. ;) You’d better be attractive, Mr. Unknown Number, because I’d hope my friend wouldn’t give my number to just anyone.

               Kyungsoo chewed at his cuticles, nervously wondering if his response was too much too soon, or too sarcastic, or overly flirty. (Or too grammatically formal and correct.) It took all of his willpower not to throw his phone again when he received a reply less than thirty seconds later. (He did shriek again, though. Like a girl, too.)

               From **Jongin** : id hope 4that two since ur mine now hyun cuz i rly liik yu

               From **Jongin** : brakfast tmrw!

               From **Jongin** : lunch?*

               From **Kyungsoo** : Hmm…I think I can fit you into my schedule.

               From **Jongin** : purf. can wii b byfradns too?

               From **Kyungsoo** : Obvi.

               Kyungsoo sighed in contentment, done with the shrieking since he realized it was almost 4 am and if any of his neighbors were trying to sleep, they’d probably hate him right then. He wasn't even embarrased about his uncharacteristic use of text slang because, really, Kyungsoo almost couldn’t help himself--he was just so _so_ happy.

               Jongin really liked him. Jongin had fun on their date. Kyungsoo had kissed Jongin—on the cheek, but still—and Jongin hadn’t been disgusted or pulled away. Jongin wanted to go out with him again. (Although Kyungsoo wasn’t quite sure whether they were getting breakfast or lunch…) Jongin wanted to be _boyfriends_.

               But the best part of all, for Kyungsoo at least, was that Jongin made his mind a literal blank space, but didn’t seem to care that Kyungsoo had a hard time speaking coherently in his presence. (Or that Kyungsoo still couldn’t dance.) Basically, though Kyungsoo and Jongin had neither languages nor dancing as mutual ground, they had each other in common, and that seemed to be enough.

               The Do boy grinned as his phone vibrated once again, checking his messages expectantly and chuckling audibly at the words on the screen. He replied quickly, making sure to wish Jongin goodnight, but then opened a new thread, changed the keyboard from Korean to Mandarin, and sent a few short words to someone else. Afterward, Kyungsoo hung himself off the side of his bed so that he could grab his charger and plug in his phone, before putting the device on silent and rolling over to go to sleep with a Jongin-induced smile still etched permanently on his face.

               Kyungsoo was emitting light snores by the time he received a response to his text, but he was totally amused the next morning when he reread first his message and then the one he’d gotten in return.

               From **Kyungsoo** : A little birdy named Jongin told me to check your neck for hickies tomorrow. Tell me, does dimple boy taste like coffee? kekekeke

               From **Junmyeon** : I. Hate. You.


	8. Bonus: Heart Attack Hickies

Junmyeon's phone vibrated in his back pocket, disturbing him where he sat warmly cuddled in Yixing's arms. He reached behind to grab it with a groan, starting suddenly when his fingers instead brushed denim—and something else entirely—and caused Yixing to squeak in surprise. Junmyeon groaned again, this time for a different reason, and pecked Yixing quickly on his lips before pulling out his device and checking the screen.

  
"Oh!" He said in surprise, catching Yixing's attention by his tone. "It's Kyungsoo."

  
"Your friend?" Yixing clarified, even though they'd just had dinner together a few hours earlier. (He was forgetful like that. In the short portion of the double date that the two couples had actually spent together, this trait of Yixing's had driven Kyungsoo mad. Junmyeon just thought it was adorable—like everything else about the barista.) At a confirming nod from Junmyeon, Yixing peered over the other man's shoulder curiously, wondering if the message contained any updates on Jongin. "What's it say?"

  
Junmyeon swiped his finger to sign himself into the phone, initially pausing to read his best friend's text, but then quickly covering the message with his hands when he reached its end. "You don't want to see that," he stressed to Yixing, accidentally slipping into Mandarin almost subconsciously. (The language was normally Junmyeon's defense mechanism against a nagging Kyungsoo. Regardless of language used, the latter could still understand and communicate with his friend, but Kyungsoo was smart enough in general to recognize when Junmyeon was getting cagey.) Yixing emitted a questioning hum and raised an eyebrow quite cutely, but Junmyeon surprisingly resisted. "No, really," the Kim heir maintained firmly.

  
Yixing overlooked Junmyeon's resistance quite agreeably. Instead, he focused his energy on adjusting their position so that Junmyeon was now seated comfortably with his back resting against Yixing's chest and his body situated snugly between the other's legs. Junmyeon thought it was pretty wonderful, cuddling with Yixing like that—especially sonce he'd pined after the barista for quite a while before they had even met. He told Yixing this and was rewarded with a sudden and intense kiss. The Korean boy let out a startled "Oof!" but was far from upset by the intimacy, and allowed himself to be kissed senseless.

  
Unfortunately, however, Yixing was able to finagle the phone out of Junmyeon's grip in the process and the former gleefully opened Kyungsoo's message as soon as Junmyeon pulled away. (Junmyeon had absolutely no idea how Yixing did it. The Chinese guy could practically be depended on to forget his own name, yet had somehow managed to steal a phone while simultaneously being an amazing kisser. It was pretty overwhelming for Junmyeon to think about.)  
He grunted in aggravation, but his new position made it nearly impossible to reach for anything Yixing was actively trying to keep away. Junmyeon harrumphed like a small child and crossed his arms to show he was upset. (He also pouted his lip to emphasize that kisses would improve his mood, but Yixing didn't notice.) "That doesn't work on me," Yixing chuckled gently, "remember?"

  
Junmyeon thought back through their evening and uncrossed his arms as a memory flitted through his consciousness. That's right, he thought with a hidden grimace as he recalled how embarrassing it had been for him to try an aegyo tantrum and receive no reaction for his troubles.

  
After they'd split from Kyungsoo and Jongin earlier in the evening, Junmyeon and Yixing had decided to go back to Caceopy, hoping the little cafe's warm drinks and cozy seating would help erase the last of their first date jitters. It's not that they'd been overly nervous or weird before then, but once the other couple was no longer there to act as a buffer, Junmyeon realized that he still really liked Yixing but didn't know how to say it. That epiphany made him awkward and when Junmyeon was uncomfortable, he tended to do stupid things—like hide under a glass table and hope no one could see him. Hence his strong dependency on aegyo.

  
But the whole concept of acting cute to be appealing or to come across as innocent and/or childlike and/or adorable wasn't really big in China like it was in Korea. Junmyeon had been gone for so long that he'd forgotten this, and had mistakenly thought that pouting brattily, stomping his foot lightly, and whining while fluttering his eyelashes would make Yixing like him more. It didn't. Yixing, rather, had asked if he'd bitten his lip, if his leg got a sudden cramp, and if there was something in his eye that was making his voice change pitch. Junmyeon had been sufficiently mortified, to say the least, and it had taken a good thirty minutes for the residual blush to disappear completely.

  
Sighing at the memory—and the telltale flush of heat pooling in his cheeks—Junmyeon nodded forlornly at Yixing's reminder. "I know," he muttered, still pouting but trying to be more natural about it. Yixing recognized the effort and ended up kissing Junmyeon's pouting lip anyway because the latter had been too enticing to resist. "Stop distracting me!" a flushed Junmyeon commanded a few minutes later, his chest heaving from exertion. "I want my phone back!"

  
"Nope." The grin on Yixing's face was wide and wicked, and especially enhanced by mischievously glinting dimples. Junmyeon could tell that the best option was to just let the other man read the message because there was no way Yixing was giving up now. He watched as Yixing's eyes flicked back and forth, reading the words on the screen with obvious amusement. "Hickies, huh?" Yixing asked finally.

  
Letting out a huge breath—he'd been holding it—Junmyeon looked down sheepishly. "I might have exaggerated a few things to your friend earlier when he asked for Soo's number."

  
Yixing curled his body and turned his neck so that Junmyeon had a clear view of the former's mild smirk and raised eyebrow of interest. "Did you now?"

  
"He just looked all excited and happy and said he wanted them to date. And I don't know, Kyungsoo's been my best friend for, like, 12 years and you don't know what he's like!" Junmyeon rambled. "If he realized I'd had a crush longer than him but he got a boyfriend sooner, I'd never hear the end of it. And in, like, 17 languages or something too!" (Since Junmyeon was good with numbers—he was a business major, after all—he did actually keep up to date on the exact number of languages that his best friend was able to speak. This was a great help when Kyungsoo got braggy because Junmyeon could always be counted on to remind his friend of the limits to his accomplishments.)

  
"Hmm," Yixing contemplated, slowly moving his hands to stroke a nonexistent beard like he was Confucius or something. "Well, I'm assuming if Jongin kissed him tonight, your friend's message would have mentioned something, right?"

  
Junmyeon made a noise in agreement, surprised that Cacoepy's cute barista was so perceptive. "So we can assume from that that you and I kissed before they did." He cutely kissed Junmyeon's nose for good measure before continuing with a teasing glint in his eyes. "That should be enough to run in his face, don't you think?"

  
"You're so diabolical," Junmyeon said admiringly. Yixing thanked him politely with a smile and a wink, before something occurred to the Chinese man and he spoke again.

  
"The message said hickies though," Yixing paused to consider that detail, and Junmyeon gulped to fill the loud silence—and to delay his heart attack. "Guess we'll have some fun then." Yixing winked again and Junmyeon wished desperately for a glass table. "Let's get to work!"

  
Junmyeon squeaked as Yixing's mouth trailed a hot path down his jaw to settle at the space below his ear. "Here?" Yixing asked, his puffed breath a promise of things to come. Junmyeon didn't answer—couldn't answer—so Yixing moved his mouth to Junmyeon's collar bone and asked again.

  
"Here?" No answer. Yixing moved once more, sliding the neck of Junmyeon's loose v-neck to the side and lapping lightly at the pale skin of Junmyeon's shoulder. Junmyeon still had no words, but his answering moan was apparently what Yixing was looking for because he began to kiss and suck the spot with heated fervor. "Here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you!

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted on AFF
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the story.


End file.
